CRC/C/15/Add.140
page 8
39.
The Committee is concerned at the high levels of pollution in industrialized areas,
particularly air pollution and water and food contamination caused by nitrates, pesticides and
heavy metals.
40.
In light of article 24 (c) of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the
State party take all appropriate measures to prevent and combat the dangers and risks to
the health of children posed by environmental pollution.
41.
The Committee is concerned about reports of rising rates of tobacco and alcohol use
among adolescents.
42.
The Committee encourages the State party to provide children with accurate and
objective information about substance use, including tobacco use, and to protect them from
harmful misinformation through comprehensive restrictions on tobacco advertising. The
Committee further recommends that the State party develop rehabilitation services for
children who are victims of substance abuse.
Adequate standard of living
43.
The Committee refers to the dialogue with the State party and notes that the social
policies of the State party, in spite of their comprehensiveness, have resulted in the
socio-economic exclusion of certain groups of children such as the Roma and children living in
the streets and in institutions.
44.
The Committee recommends that the State party include NGOs, especially family
and children’s NGOs, and civil society, in general, through dialogue, in the development of
social policies in order to better understand the reasons for exclusion and to stimulate new
ideas to raise the standard of living of vulnerable groups of children.
6. Education
45.
The Committee acknowledges with appreciation that 10 years of schooling is compulsory
in the State party and that it is free. The Committee is, however, concerned that children do not
have the right to participate in the evaluation of their school achievements.
46.
The Committee recommends that education in the State party be directed towards
the development, with the active participation of the child, of the child’s personality, talents
and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential, in accordance with article 29 of
the Convention.
47.
The Committee notes with concern that most Roma children attend special schools
because of real or perceived language and cultural differences between the Roma and the
majority; that the School Act does not offer instruction in the Roma language; and the negative,
stereotypical description of the Roma and their children in general, but especially in the initial
report.